Bowling Hall Of Fame Demolished For Ballpark Village Construction

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ST. LOUIS, MO. (KTVI) – From bowling balls to the wrecking ball...or the wrecking arm. A familiar landmark is being leveled in downtown St. Louis.

'We just turned the corner and was like, 'Oh they're taking it down,' says Tim Walsh on his lunch break. 'I had no idea. It's kind of weird it's not going to be there anymore.'

Yet the breakdown of a building is very hypnotic from any angle.
Today St. Louisans were surprised to see the spot for strikes and spares come to an end.

'But it's also like cleaning up your room,' says Seth Hurwitz who stopped to watch. 'He's sort of putting one bunch of pieces on one side and making sure...He's very careful even though he's smashing them all to bits.'

'You could get your chair,' says David Schrader. 'It's a nice day to just sit there and just watch it. I'd like to be the guy behind the wheel.'

While the wheels of progress move forward on the new Ballpark Village, today's first phase of the project saw the demolition of the familiar triangular building between seventh and eighth streets.

The former International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame left St. Louis and moved to Arlington, Texas five years ago.

But there's still a lot of memories for this city that made Dick Weber and the sport of bowling famous.

'I remember going there as a kid with my parents and always going to the baseball games and looking at it from across the street,' says Walsh.

While the lanes will be gone, and the sight lines changed, memories of games and gutter balls in the gateway city will live on.